The Pontiac Brothers

PB's on December 6, 1987, Los Angeles, California

by Tim Shannon(October 2006)

The Pontiac Brothers are most known for having one
of their records cameo in the Replacements' "Bastards
of Young" video or as a footnote to the Liquor Giants
and Gun Club's careers. They were often referred to as
the Replacements' replacements (although the Stones
meets Replacements tag is more accurate) in the press
because of their similar sound. That phrase
would hold some weight if the Pontiacs filled in for the Mats
live- the audience would still go home happy and with a
new band to uncover. It's easy to imagine both bands
knocking back beers, laughing and shooting the breeze
with each other. Although they did some shows together
the Pontiacs never got the same following the Mats
cultivated. They might play shows to 5-10 people
sometimes. Their only mistake was bad timing as their
type of music didn't fit with many underground fans
taste in the late '80's. Now as decades have passed, it's
time to stop seeing them as an also ran and give this
band a thorough look.

In 1983, Ward Dotson guitarist for the seminal punk-meets-blues band Gun Club was upset with the band's
direction. He stated he was tired of playing for
people in black leather who never smiled and with that,
he left the band. Deciding he wanted to play music for
fun again, he got together with rhythm guitarist Glen
Floyd, bassist Kurt Bauman and singer Matt Simon, all
California scene veterans. Together they formed a
Stones cover band called Gallstones to play bars.
Neither Valdez or Simon had played this role in a band
before and Dotson didn't hide to state "our singer was
our drummer, our drummer was a bass payer and
collectively we had the drive of a perpetual
hangover." When the French label Lolita gave them the
chance to record an album they jumped at the offer
even though they were still evolving from a covers to
a band doing original material. The Pontiac Brothers influences obviously included
the Stones but also other hard rock bands as well as the blues and
there's also a Westerberg-like personal songwriting style can be
heard on the debut.

Since the Pontiacs are so often compared with the
Mats, I feel a need to show some distinctions quickly
between them so they aren't seen as some second rate
version and that they have their own uniqueness. Simon
even states he'd never really heard of them until the
Pontiacs had been a band for quite some time. The first
difference is the blues influence and Dotson's use of
slide guitar in the Pontiacs, which was rarely used in
the Mats. Also, while the Mats sound had its roots in punk,
the Pontiacs didn't. They might have had punk ethics
like 'play what you want, not what sells' and 'do your own
thing and don't compromise your music.' Musically
speaking though, the Pontiacs never went past
mid-tempo. Lastly, just look at their different in choice of
covers. The Mats covers were usually of their '70's
rock influences or their pop aspirations while the
Pontiacs showed a debt to the '60's, with lesser known
songs by Dylan, Grateful Dead, McCartney and the
MC5.

The Pontiacs' resulting debut record Big Black River
(1985) shows a band who didn't have it all
together yet. The title track and the cover of Dylan's
"If You Got to Go, Go Now" are the only ones that
sound fully realized. The band wasn't happy with the
record and shortly afterward, they fired Glen Floyd for
being inexperienced (not what you'd call a punk move) and replaced him with Jon Wahl. Within
the year, they got signed with the L.A. indie Frontier
Records and started working on a new record while
dumping half of the material from the first.

This record became Doll Hut (1985) and was a step
up from BBR with great simple melodies and evidence of
their own determined style. "Straight and Narrow"
re-establishes Dotson's mastery of the slide guitar
matched with a jumping melody. Two stand out tracks
{"Almost Human," "Out In The Rain") show that the band
had real potential."Almost Human" is greatly improved
from the debut's production and playing: it has a slow
tempo, great acoustic melody and talks about an
enticing, but hurtful woman who's "almost human when
she steps up to you "and kisses you. A slide is used
effectively in it that personifies the melancholic
feel the singer feels about the woman. "Out In the
Rain" has a strong melody, Simon's appropriate throaty
vocals and lyrics that promise "I got a bottle babe,
take my hand we'll get drunk in the rain." Other tracks
show the band's interplay and Dotson's guitar leads
have grown with time- "Keep The Promise," "Whole
Damn World" which also adds humor ("I'm alright, it's
the whole damn world") and the warning of apathy "While
I Sleep." Doll Hut got featured in the Mats' "Bastards of Young" video that
year (at the start, while flipping through records,
before being thrown). When Dotson asked Paul why he did
that, he joked "it looked like it needed flinging."

Jon Wahl left after Doll Hut to form his own band (Claw Hammer),
making the Pontiacs a foursome and with this lineup
they really hit their stride. Fiesta en La Biblioteca
(1986) delivered and expanded upon the potential
shown in Doll Hut boasting better melody arrangements,
more diversity in the material, more heartfelt lyrics
and a drunken sense of playfulness. "She Knows It" and
"Doll Hut" are both up-tempo melodic rockers with the
former's chorus simply stating "she's all to me ,
that's all that matters." "Look Out For That Train"
talks about the sentiment of leaving your small town
behind for the wide world and something more that
everyone has felt at one time in their life. Sung from
the view of a person leaving to someone staying he
sings "look out for that train, don't know when I'll
be coming through here again." Simon's vocals sound
liberating when he says "it feels so good to be gone,
can't wait to get away" and when he offers "would you
like to come along?" The song has an inventive
melody and some great one liners like "I woke up dying
just before I was born." The album shows range with
fun rocking filler ("She Likes To Rock") a beautiful
rendition of a Grateful Dead song ("Brown Eyed Women")
and regret from drinking the night before with an
attitude of "I just do what I can and try my best not
to give a damn" ("Can't Get Out of Bed").

Fiesta also marked some firsts in the Pontiacs
career that showed growth. Normally Dotson/Simon wrote
most of the songs in the Pontiacs, but Valdez showed
his first writing credit here collaborating with Simon
and playing an acoustic guitar on "Girl From El Reno."
It sounds like an authentic blues standard with
sinister slide guitar recalling a desolate dusty road.

Fiesta also began showing more of their humor as well with
the title, a liquor bottle casually posed on the cover and
credits in the liners of excess vocals (credited to Sue Gorilla and Annette Vargas) and a guitar solo credited to "gnarly dude" (according to Matt, "I'm about 99% sure that was actually Randy Burns, our producer, but it might have been one of his heavy metal friends as well").

The album ends with their first
real introspective song "Be Married" that is one of
the Pontiacs best ever and is often referred to as the
best song Paul Westerberg never wrote. The song has a
contemplative mood as Dotson in a rare lead vocal
sings a matrimony plea that paints a picture of
both sides of marriage. He's idealistic when he sings
"don't you think its time, we got a little place just
yours and mine" and talks about the wedding cake and
party, but is followed by pessimism, singing "it'd be alright
then we could fight all the time." The bridge adds
more depth to the song when he sings of alienation
("why am I the only one who feels this way") and fear
("you and I could mess this whole thing up") with a
stretching slide in the background. Fiesta was their
best record to date and had favorable reviews in the
few magazines that heard it. Frontier liked it enough
to release "Be Married" as its own separate EP in 1987.

Despite the achievement of Fiesta, they still
weren't getting the attention they deserved. The band
decided if their next record didn't do well they'd
call it quits. Johnson (1988) was another classic by
the Pontiacs showing them playing better than ever
with cleaner production and bursting with crossover
potential. Half of the songs on the record could have
made great singles if they were given the right push.
"Ain't What I Call Home" opens the record with tons of
energy from piano (supplied by the Faces' Ian McLagan) and melodic guitar backed up with
Beatles-esque harmonies and a heavy backbeat. "Creep"
has a bright melody and guitar lines through it with
contrasting lyrics of a girl who "will always be a
creep." "Drop of a Hat" shows an opposite rough melody
that matches with Simon's straight from the gut vocals
about how money doesn't matter. The sad and
introspective ballad "Doin' Fine Again" perfectly
captures the feeling of being lost and confused with
the line "I guess I maybe, sorta, kinda, gotta, wanna
have something to do." There's a continued trend of
diversity on this record while simultaneously boasting
some of their best songs and most well written lyrics.
The rocking cover of Paul McCartney's "Magneto and
Titanium Man" shows they're still having fun and
"American Dream" makes clear a feeling of being left
out on the refrain "so this is the American dream,
what's it got to do with me." "Comin' True" is an
almost anthem with a tight catchy driving melody,
drunken humor ("foots on the other shoe") and thoughts
that "tomorrow we'll have better things to do." "Real
Job" ends the record poking fun at the question ("why
don't you get a real job?") that they must have faced
numerous times with mentions of food stamps and their
response of "I know what I should do, I know but
I... I just don't want to."

Johnson was their biggest exposure yet. They even
made a video for "Ain't What I Call Home."
Unfortunately, this genius album went unnoticed like
their others and even after "3 1/2 years of getting
used to the world's general lack of interest," the band
felt ragged and broke up around 1988. Dotson went off and formed
the Liquor Giants with Valdez brought along on bass
and recorded their debut You're Always Welcome. After
the Pontiacs broke up and years passed by, they
realized they missed playing together and in 1992 got
together to record a reunion album for that very
reason.
Considering Fuzzy Little Piece of The World (1992)
was recorded 4 years after the band had last played
together and put together in a month, it's a great record but it
doesn't completely hold up to their last two. A good
number of the tracks on Fuzzy ("Cry," "Rock Music,"
"Suicide Note," "Being With You") have a reflective mood to
it. It can almost be taken as a proper farewell from
the group that they didn't get to say after Johnson
for their own sake, if not the audience. That's not to
assume this record is a downer, in fact it has plenty
of up-tempo songs. "Clowns Join The Circus" shows they
hadn't lost their sense of humor combined with loud
ringing chords. "Feelgood" has a bashed-out melody and
the title track has a good simple crunchy melody to
it. You can also notice an influence of the Liquor
Giants pop hooks on some of the tracks. They make a
joke with their song "Last Saturday," which is a nice parody
of Morrissey. Humor also pops up in the thoughtful songs too,
like "Little By Little" stating "this is where the
story ends, I'm back hanging with my yachting
friends." The album ends with the touching and
nostalgic "Being With You" played on piano and is one
of the Pontiacs' best songs. Reflecting on their career
Simon sings "OK so we didn't catch, we had fun not
catching." and that "we were just young then instead
of has-been, but I don't care I'm glad you were my
friend."

The band sounded like they had a lot of fun making
Fuzzy and both Simon and Dotson seem to favor it the
most. Following the release of Fuzzy they did a small
tour for it and when that ended, so did the Pontiac
Brothers. Frontier Records re-issued Doll Hut and
Fiesta onto one CD in 1992 with the Dylan cover from
the first album added to it to coincide with Fuzzy
being released. Dotson continued on with the Liquor
Giants releasing records for Matador (including one
with Simon on drums) and gaining a large cult
following in Australia.

The Pontiacs appear to have no
bitterness or grudges with their past. To quote a line
from "Cry", "all they ever wanted was a good time" and
it showed. It was common for them to ask when they
first arrived for sound check "what kind of bar tab do
we have?" Dotson sums it up simply as "all we cared
about was getting wasted and that was accomplished."

Thanks to Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records for getting
me in contact with Ward Dotson and Matt Simon, who were kind enough to share their thoughts and memories of the band.